Wood-cutting machine.



PATENTED APR. r26, 1904-. A. A. BARTLETT. l WOOD CUTTING MACHINE'.

APPLIoA'rIoN FILED srzrT. 24, 100s.

I0 MODEL.

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UNTTED STATES Patented April 26, 1904.

ALDEN A. BARTLETT, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

WOOD-CUTTING MACHINE.

SFECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 758,042, dated April 26, 1904. Application filed September 24, 1903. Serial No. 174,530. (No model.)

To all 71;/'00717/ it mr/.y concern:

Be it known that I, ALDEN A. BARTLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing' at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California., have invented a new and useful Improved bod-Cutting Machine, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to machines for reducing fern and thelike wood to sawdust orpulp; and my object is to provide a machine of this character which will etliciently reduce wood of the character indicated to a state of line division and such a machine in which the number of parts shall be the fewest possible con-I sistent with the work required of it and which shall be etlicient in operation and durable in use.

My invention particularly relates to a machine designed especially to operate upon ferns, such as those that grow in the Hawaiian Islands, the texture of which more nearly resembles wool than wood, and therefore is of such a peculiar nature as to render it diicult if not impracticablc of separation into fine particles by the usual wood-cutting means with which I am familiar, because it is found that instead of being severed by the usual cutting knives or devices it yields under the action of the same. This class of woods or plants grows luxuriantly in the Hawaiian Islands to various thicknesses up to four feet in diameter, and it may be briefly described as composed of round or wire like bers interwoven in a matted state, as a result of which peculiar teX- ture all attempts to cut it by knives operating .either at right ang'les to the longitudinal axis of the wood or in line therewith are practically inetfective, because the result is simply a tearing of the wood and without an effective division of the same into sawdust or pulp. I have found that this fiber can be properly reduced to the required state of division by a specially-constructed cutting mechanism in which the cutting' devices orelements are presented to the material so as to act upon the same in the manner of a screw and are disposed that they are presented to the wood at an angle to the surface of each individual fiber, such angle being substantially at right angles to the texture of each of said individual fibers and combined with means, manual or mechanical, for feeding the material to the cutting or sawing mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for regulating the distance the cutting' edge projects for cutting action on the fiber, which means enable me to compensate for the wear of the cutting-knives.

With these objects in view my invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the machine embodied in my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side View of a section of teeth of the cutters. Fig. 5 is an end view of the same. Fig'. 6 is a section showing the means for securing the cutters to the cylinder, and Fig. 7 is a view of the cylinder with the cutters removed.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several Views.

The frame l has bearings 2 for the reception of the horizontal shaft 10, on which is mounted the cylinder 3, supporting the cutting or sawing device, consisting' in this instance of the spiral band-saws 4, as shown, so that they may form a series of spirally-dis posed teeth which will act upon the liber of the wood after the manner of a screw, and thereby assist in drawing the wood through the machine, which feeding' action may be supplemented by hand or by any suitable mechanical means. The spiral knives may be long enough to reach from end to end of the cylinder or may be in sections. I prefer to construct the cylinder with end shoulders 20, as shown in Fig. 7, to support the cutters. These cutters may be L-shaped in cross-section and securely held againstvthe cylinder by plates 2l and screws 22. The distance the cutters project beyond plates 2l is regulated by the thickness of the strips 23 of lead, soft iron, wood, or any other desirable material. The teeth of the cutters preferably do not project more than three-fourths of an inch. When worn, the thickness of Qirmay be reduced to allow the teeth to project farther.

Suitably secured to the supporting-frame is a feed table or trough 5, terminating in a wedge-shaped box or receptacle 6, extending from the feeding end of the cylinder to the opposite end thereof, said table extending at an angle to the cutting device, so as to direct the wood against the cutting edges thereof diagonally with respect to the length of said wood, as shown in Fig. 2, and extending from the top of said trough isa segmental shield or guard-plate 7 overlapping and inclosing the upper quadrant of the cutting-cylinder opposite to said feed table or trough. Between the lower or bottom portion of the wedge-shaped receptacle or box 5 and the cutting-cylinder is a discharge-opening 8, adapted to direct the finely-divided particles from the machine and preferably onto a suitable conveyer of any convenient form, such as a belt 9, passing around suitable shafts 19, journaled in bearings of the fixed frame below the feeding-trough and operated in any suitable manner from the drivingshaft of the machine-such, for example, as

by means of the worm-screw 14 on `one end of the shaft 10, meshing with the worm-gear 15 on'one end of one of the shafts 19, the main driving of the machine being eiected through the medium of a spur-gear or pulley 11, mounted on the shaft 10 and deriving its motion from any suitable spur-gear or belt (not shown) driven from any suitable sourceV of power or by any other equivalent driving means. After the material or divided particles fall upon the conVeyer-belt they are conveyed by the same to any convenient point of discharge, and I have indicated conventionally a discharge-chute on the hopper 17, through which the particles are directed to any suitable point or to cars, boxes, or other receptacles placed thereunder.

a feed box or table disposed at an angle to said cutting-cylinder terminating in a wedgeshaped box extending substantially thelength of and adjacent to the cutting-cylinder and adapted to direct the material against the cutting edges at an angle thereto, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for reducing wood to sawdust or pulp, the combination of a rotating cylinder having collars at its ends, said collars having projecting shoulders with spiral faces, and saw-teeth spirally disposed around said cylinder abutting against said shoulders and resting against the spiral faces of said shoulders, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for reducing wood to sawdust or pulp, the combination of a rotating cylinder having collars at its ends, said collars having projecting shoulders with spiral faces, saw-teeth spirally disposed around said cylinder and abutting against said shoulders and resting against the spiral faces of said shoulders, plates and screws to secure said saw-teeth to the cylinder, and spacing-strips to regulate the distance the teeth project beyond the securing-plates, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALDEN A. BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

J. L. GREEN, PL J. RIGNEY. 

